Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS) Upgraded to “Neutral” at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Bank of America currently has $175.00 price objective on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $170.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Keysight Technologies from $156.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Keysight Technologies from $177.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Keysight Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.50.

Keysight Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Keysight Technologies stock opened at $167.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 3.39 and a quick ratio of 2.75. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $162.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $158.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.09. Keysight Technologies has a one year low of $119.72 and a one year high of $186.20.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Keysight Technologies had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 19.65%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. Analysts forecast that Keysight Technologies will post 6.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Keysight Technologies

In other news, SVP Ingrid A. Estrada sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.97, for a total value of $1,589,700.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 108,590 shares in the company, valued at $17,262,552.30. This represents a 8.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP John Page sold 7,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.78, for a total value of $1,162,523.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 36,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,835,651.08. This represents a 16.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,830 shares of company stock worth $5,124,049. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Keysight Technologies by 364.6% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 4,652,311 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $747,301,000 after buying an additional 3,650,953 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Keysight Technologies by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,114,952 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,588,546,000 after purchasing an additional 3,621,349 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Keysight Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $320,707,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Keysight Technologies by 1,224.5% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,991,884 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $298,324,000 after purchasing an additional 1,841,494 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Keysight Technologies by 343.6% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,008,192 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $161,946,000 after purchasing an additional 780,893 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.58% of the company’s stock.

About Keysight Technologies

Keysight Technologies, Inc provides electronic design and test solutions to commercial communications, networking, aerospace, defense and government, automotive, energy, semiconductor, electronic, and education industries in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Communications Solutions Group and Electronic Industrial Solutions Group.